Problem Solved

"What good news?"

Kaijin was already dumbfounded. When he had first seen Rimuru swallow the sword he had painstakingly forged, he had nearly fainted.

He had only refrained from stopping them because Mo Li and Rimuru were the friends and saviors of his benefactor.

And now Mo Li was talking about good news? Was there even any good news left?

"There's a way to solve your problem."

Mo Li spoke with a confident look on his face.

"A solution? Don't fool me."

Kaijin looked utterly unconvinced.

"And could things get any worse than this? I originally had one sword left, and now I don't even have that. Good news, my ass. Sigh."

Kaijin looked completely hopeless.

Mo Li was in no hurry as he watched Kaijin's reaction.

"Master Kaijin, we really can help you. But we also have something we need your help with."

Mo Li spoke calmly to Kaijin.

"Sigh, even if you hadn't helped me solve this problem, I still wouldn't refuse your request. Just tell me now. I'm afraid I won't have the chance later."

Kaijin said with a heavy sigh.

"Since you've put it that way, Rimuru, give Master Kaijin an eye-opener."

Mo Li said to Rimuru.

"No problem, Ari."

Rimuru answered confidently.

Then Rimuru spat out the sword he had swallowed.

Kaijin hurriedly hugged the sword to his chest. This was the fruit of so many days of hard work. Thank goodness it was all right.

"All right, Master Kaijin, stand farther away. I'm about to begin."

Rimuru reminded Kaijin.

"Begin what?"

Kaijin looked utterly confused.

"All right, stop asking. You only need to know that we're helping you."

Mo Li pulled Kaijin aside as he spoke.

While Kaijin was still confused, the scene before him instantly left him shocked and doubtful.

Rimuru simply—

—with a whoosh, spat out a sword.

"Kaijin, see if it's the same as the sword in your hand."

Mo Li said to Kaijin, who was starting to question his entire life.

"Oh, okay."

Only then did Kaijin snap back to his senses. He hurried over to Rimuru, picked up the sword, and examined it closely.

"Whew."

Kaijin took a deep breath. Not only was the design exactly the same, even the materials were identical. But how was that possible? With his skill, forging a single sword had taken him a full half month. How had this slime made one so quickly?

"Well? Is it exactly the same as your sword?"

Mo Li asked Kaijin.

"Yes, it's exactly the same. But how did you do it?"

Kaijin hurriedly asked Mo Li.

"Don't rush. Let Rimuru copy the rest of the swords first, then we'll talk."

Mo Li said calmly.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh."

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh."

One sword after another was spat from Rimuru's mouth. Every one of them shone with the distinctive gleam of Magic Ore and was no different from the sword Kaijin had forged.

Before long, there were twenty swords.

"Ari, I have not failed your trust. I completed the task perfectly."

Rimuru jumped into Mo Li's arms, asking for praise.

"Mm, Rimuru is the best."

Mo Li praised Rimuru.

"Kaijin, take a look. With these twenty and the two in your hands, we've even exceeded the quota."

Mo Li said calmly to Kaijin.

Kaijin had yet to recover from what he had just seen.

"T-That's it?"

Kaijin said as though his worldview had crumbled.

"What did you expect?"

Mo Li asked.

Even now, Kaijin still could not believe that the problem which had plagued him for so many days had been solved by these two in less than ten minutes.

"In less than ten minutes, they forged twenty—no, twenty-one longswords."

"Was it really that casual? They didn't even give him time to prepare himself."

Only then did Kaijin realize that his heart was pounding wildly and adrenaline was surging through his body.

He tremblingly picked up the swords from the ground.

They could not merely be called identical to the sword he had forged—they were practically indistinguishable.

He stroked the patterns on the blades and the familiar sword bodies.

"Hahahaha! Hahahaha!"

Kaijin suddenly burst into laughter.

"There really are twenty of them, with extras too! Let's see how Besta tries to trip me up now!"

Kaijin shouted.

Watching Kaijin's reaction—

"See? I didn't lie to you!"

Mo Li finally spoke.

"No, no."

Only then did Kaijin realize that Mo Li and Rimuru were still there.

"My lords, I apologize for doubting you earlier. Please forgive me."

Kaijin said, bowing deeply.

"It's fine. It was only natural. There's no need to apologize."

Rimuru said indifferently.

"That's right. By all reasonable standards, I wouldn't have believed it either."

Mo Li said calmly.

"Thank you both for forgiving me."

Kaijin said gratefully.

"Of course, we didn't help you for nothing."

Rimuru spoke at that moment.

"Please, my benefactors, name your request. As long as it's something I can do, I definitely won't refuse."

Hearing Rimuru's words, Kaijin hurriedly replied, his tone full of sincerity.

"It's actually not difficult. We need some skilled workers. We come from the outskirts of the Jura Great Forest. Our people lack the skills to build houses or make weapons, so we came here to find several dwarves with useful skills."

Rimuru explained why they had come.

"I see. Don't worry, leave this to me. The Dwarf Kingdom may not have much, but we have plenty of people like that."

Kaijin patted his chest in assurance.

"But what kinds of skilled workers do you need?"

Kaijin asked Rimuru.

"Uh, people who can build houses, forge weapons and armor, make clothes, and farm. Skilled workers in those areas."

Rimuru said after thinking for a moment.

"No problem, leave it to me. Several of my brothers are experts in those fields. They can all do those things."

Kaijin said confidently to Rimuru.

"Then we'll leave it to you, Master Kaijin."

Rimuru said gratefully.

"Why call me Master? Just call me Kaijin. You've helped me so much—what does this little matter count for? Without your help, I might not even have kept my life."

Kaijin said with a laugh.

"If there's nothing else, the two of us will be leaving first."

Mo Li spoke at that moment.

"That's right, we won't disturb you any longer. We'll be going now."

Rimuru said to Kaijin after snapping back to his senses.

"Hey, what disturbance? Now that the problem's solved, I have nothing to do. Let me take you somewhere nice."

Kaijin said to Rimuru and Mo Li, waggling his eyebrows.